As a reference disclosing conventional related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 1-288991 may be mentioned. This publication discloses a maintenance monitoring device. This maintenance monitoring device informs the operator of the time for replacement of oil, the oil filter, or other parts in a construction machine. With the device according to this document, it is possible to inform the operator of the remaining period until the replacement time.
Recently, in construction machines such as hydraulic excavators, there has been a growing need for designing intelligent machines using high performance computers and sophisticated function programs, for greater flexibility in use of IT to enable work to be freely changed by users, and for use of IT at manufacturers producing machinery to manage sophisticated function machinery (collect and transfer data), perform troubleshooting for and individually maintain individual machinery, and provide and propose sophisticated services to the users. Under this situation, none of the conventional devices is sufficient. Construction of a more sophisticated system actively using IT is therefore desired.
In particular, from the viewpoint of the replacement of parts, it is most important to obtain accurate information on the time of operation of the hydraulic excavators etc., that is, the actual time of operation (hereinafter referred to as the “actual operating time”). If not able to know the actual operating time, one cannot replace parts at the optimal timing.
For example, replacement parts of a hydraulic excavator include the engine oil, engine oil filter, the bucket claws of the front, the front pins (for example, connecting pins of the frame and arm), the bushings around the front pins, the turn system transmission oil, the turn system transmission seals, the travel system transmission oil, the travel system transmission seals, the travel system shoes, etc. Among these, the engine oil and engine oil filter are mainly parts relating to engine operation, the bucket claws, front pins, and bushings are mainly parts relating to excavation work, the turn system transmission oil and turn system transmission seals are mainly parts relating to the turn operation, and the travel system transmission oil and travel system transmission shoes are main related to travel. According to the conventional method of detection of the operating time, normally the driving time of the engine was added up and used as the operating time, but strictly speaking this differs from the actual operating time. That is, even if the engine has been driven, unless excavation work has been performed, there is almost no effect on the wear or biting of the front pins and front bushings. The same applies to the other parts relating to travel and turning. Therefore, the maintenance monitor of the above prior art called for replacement at a stage when there was still leeway before the replacement time and therefore resulted in waste. Conversely, if able to determine the accurate time of operation of a hydraulic excavator, that is, the actual operating time, it would be possible to provide maintenance information to the user at the optimum timing and therefore possible to improve service.
Further, normally hydraulic excavators etc. are deployed at the construction sites. Maintenance (upkeep, management, and maintenance for the state of the machines) is important for such hydraulic excavators to perform work under tough environments or conditions. In the past, for such maintenance, service workers went to the construction sites and checked predetermined items using check-sheets prepared in advance.
In the conventional method of maintenance, the check data obtained by the service workers was managed by maintenance and management companies (run by manufacturers, dealers, or rental companies). The system was not set up to give sufficient maintenance information regarding the machinery used to the user side. Further, from the viewpoint of management, there were the problems that even the manufacturers, dealers, and rental companies were not able to obtain maintenance information in real time for machinery present at distant construction sites and that maintenance information was not being collected and managed in an easy-to-use format.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of detection of the actual operating time of machinery deployed at construction sites which enables the actual time of work in construction machines such as hydraulic excavators to be grasped with a high degree of accuracy and parts to be replaced at the optimal timing and which is useful from various viewpoints in maintenance or labor management of the operators.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data collection and management system of machinery deployed at construction sites which collects and manages maintenance information by a daily report format for construction machines, uses the maintenance information in real time, and obtains maintenance information in a highly usable format.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a base station for managing a large number of machinery deployed at construction sites at distant locations.